1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a system comprising a plurality of plug-in connectors which differ in their outer shape as well as a multiple plug-in connector featuring such a system. The plug-in connectors are intended, in particular, for a connection with twisted-pair cables and for the transmission of high frequency signals.
2. Description of Related Art
Twisted-pair cables have long been known from the field of signal and data transmission. “Twisted-pair” refers to cables in which the wires (i.e. the individual conductors of the cable which are surrounded by an insulating sheath) are twisted together in pairs. In comparison with cables in which the wire pairs are parallel, twisted-pair cables with their twisted wire pairs provide better protection against external alternating magnetic fields and electromagnetic influences, since with a symmetrical signal transmission the twisting of the wire pairs largely cancels out the influence through external fields.
Plug-in connectors are used in order to connect together electrically conductive components, for example cables, in an electrically conductive manner.
When connecting a twisted-pair cable with a conventional plug-in connector, a section of the outer cable sheath surrounding the wires is removed. Then the ends of the wires, additionally stripped of their insulating sheathing, are permanently connected with contact elements of the plug-in connector. The contact elements are in turn fixed in the housing of the plug-in connector. Within the housing, i.e., in the section in which the cable sheathing has been removed, the wires substantially run parallel. This section of the twisted-pair cable could thus be exposed to a stronger influence through external fields.
In order to avoid such an increased influence, a shielding is generally integrated in the plug-in connector and in particular in the housing of the plug-in connector. However, this leads to relatively high costs for the plug-in connector, since it rules out the possibility of forming the housing, economically, exclusively from electrically insulating or non-conductive plastics.
It is also known for a series of plug-in connectors, distinguished by a substantially standard plug interface, to be modified in such a way that these can only be connected with matching mating plug-in connectors. Such codings for the plug-in connectors can for example be provided in the form of simple projections which differ, in the different plug-in connectors, in terms of their arrangement on the housings and/or in their dimensions and which engage into correspondingly arranged and/or dimensioned recesses in the matching mating plug-in connectors.
A disadvantage of a coding integrated in the housing of the plug-in connector is that this increases the costs of manufacturing the plug-in connector. This is in particular the case if the housings of the plug-in connector are manufactured by means of plastic injection molding, since the different codings require different injection molding tools. Furthermore, a large number of different molds for housing parts of plug-in connectors can lead to high stock-keeping costs in connection with the assembly of the plug-in connectors.
It is noted that DE 20 2006 013 075 U1 discloses a connection system for connecting wire pairs of a multi-pair data cable to connection pairs of a data socket. This system comprises a cable with four wire pairs, whereby the four wire pairs are arranged in an accommodating device, and a socket with four connection pairs for making contact with the four wire pairs in a predetermined assignment. A rotatable assignment device is arranged between the accommodating device and the socket. It is possible to establish correct contact between the wire pairs and the connection pairs depending on the rotation positions of the accommodating device, the assignment device and the socket relative to one another.
It is also noted that US 2005/0287873 A1 discloses a single plug-in connector which can be provided with three different caps: either with a dust protection cap or with a pull-ring cap for laying a cable or with a RJ45 adapter cap 262, which is used for the operation of the plug-in connector. The dust protection cap is used for transport and the pull-ring cap for laying the cable in a conduit.
The publication DE 20 2012 007 577 U1 discloses a (multiple) plug-in connector with a housing and a plurality of contact element pairs fixed in the housing which are designed to make contact with complementary contact element pairs of a mating plug-in connector.